Curb Appeal Tips

How would you like to sell your home for top dollar? Well of course you would! You have probably heard of “curb appeal” . Curb appeal is the first thing your buyer sees when he drives up to your home. Yep, you got it – you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Your homes curb appeal can determine whether a buyer stops to consider your home or just drives on by. It will also set the buyers mindset on whether or not your home has been well cared for and if it’s worth what you are asking for it.

Here are a few curb appeal ideas that will help you sell your home for top dollar.

1. You should take a look around your home with fresh eyes and ask yourself “what do I see?” Take care of all major and minor maintenance issues. Anything from loose gutters, crooked shutters, cracked windows and loose mortar. Nothing should be left undone. The time you spend on these things now could potentially save you thousands of dollars in the long run. For example: if you have a cracked window, the buyer will have it in their mind that your home needs new windows , whether it does or not. Once the buyer has a certain mindset, it’s hard to change it. Whereas it would have been much cheaper to just replace that one window and the buyer would have more than likely never noticed and therefore it would never have been an issue.

2. If you can afford it, it will pay you back in spades if you paint your entire house. If you can’t, make sure you powerwash it or at least paint the trim and the doors. You can rent a powerwasher for a day or so to make your home look as fresh as possible. This should include cleaning the windows as well. This goes back to the scenario above. If the buyer sees dirty windows, he might perceive them as old and in need of being replaced.

3. Clean up all the clutter and anything that doesn’t need to be there. Depersonalize it as much as possible. You want your potential buyers to be able to envision themselves living there. You should add some fresh mulch and perhaps add some flowers to a nice pot on the porch or to your flowerbeds. A splash of color will catch their eye and enhance your curb appeal.

4. Most people don’t consider the little things like their mailbox and their house numbers. What is the first thing your buyer will see when they are driving down your street looking for your house? Your house number right? So whether your house number is on your mailbox or on your house or both, that is the first thing your buyer will see. So go ahead and spend a few extra dollars and get a new mailbox if you need it and if not, you can plant some flowers around the base and add some fresh new numbers to it. In addition to your mailbox, buy a nice, tasteful new plaque for your house with your house numbers on it. It’s the little things that go a long way.